Wildcats’ Kansas natives relish clobbering rivals

Kansas' Marcquis Roberts, right, and Fish Smithson are unable to keep Kansas State junior quarterback Joe Hubener (8) out of the end zone during the annual Sunflower Showdown game Saturday at Memorial Stadium.

Saturday’s 45-14 victory over Kansas University at Memorial Stadium marked the 20th win in 24 tries against the Jayhawks for Kansas State coach Bill Snyder.

But even with all of those wins under his belt, beating his Sunflower State rival does not appear to be getting old for the 76-year-old Snyder.

“It means an awful lot,” Snyder said after the victory. “I have been on the other end of it, and so you don’t like that. I appreciate all the people in the state of Kansas. Everybody has a side and it means a lot to so many people. It means a lot to KU people just like it means a lot to Kansas State people, so therefore that makes it very meaningful to me for that reason, because our people care so much.”

Snyder was far from the only one wearing purple celebrating Saturday’s blowout win by the Wildcats. Fifty-one players on the KSU roster call the Sunflower State home and 17 of those 51 players have made starts for KSU this season.

One of those, junior quarterback Joe Hubener, a native of Cheney, played a huge role in the Wildcats’ easy win over the Jayhawks on Saturday.

Hubener finished 10-of-17 passing for 133 yards and added 88 yards and two touchdowns on the ground on 17 carries.

“It is huge, being a Kansas kid,” Hubener said of the win. “This is the game you always look forward to. This is the game you want to win more than any other game. And seeing the governor in the locker room presenting the Governor’s Cup, that’s huge. It’s a good feeling for me personally and I think for the rest of the team, as well.”

The Governor’s Cup will be returning to Manhattan, where it has resided for the past seven years. KU’s last win over the Wildcats in this series came in 2008, 52-21 in Lawrence, during the Jayhawks’ last winning season.

Since then, KSU has won seven consecutive games by an average score of 45-13. The Wildcats’ 45 points on Saturday were just the fifth most in a single game during the current winning streak.

KU’s 14 points marked the third-highest total scored by Kansas during that same stretch.

“It felt good, with it being a rivalry game and all, and with me being a Kansas kid,” said KSU senior Morgan Burns, a native of Wichita. “It was fun getting an interception. I was excited.”

— See what people were saying about the Sunflower Showdown during KUsports.com’s live coverage